Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Weekly toll: Death In the American Workplace

Construction Worker Dies In Fall From Roof

August 15, North Strabane, Pennsylvania - A construction worker died on the job Saturday morning after falling off a roof in North Strabane Township. According to the Washington County Coroner's Office, Carl Beck, 29, of Butler fell 42 feet from the roof of the work site beside the Candlewood Suites on Meadownlands Blvd. The accident occurred around 10:37 a.m. and Beck was transported to Canonsburg Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 11:20 a.m.


West Allis store employee shot, killed in robbery

August 15, West Allis, Wisconsin — A store employee was shot during a robbery Saturday and later died, West Allis police said. West Allis Police Capt. Charles Padgett said that an employee of the sports and urban clothing store Dame's Spot, 1031 S. 60th St., was shot Saturday afternoon inside the store. The employee then exited the store and collapsed on the sidewalk outside, Padgett said. Police received the call at 1:23 p.m. When authorities arrived, Padgett said, they transferred the victim to Froedtert Hospital, where the employee was pronounced dead.


Employee Found Dead in KCMO Cell Phone Store

August 15, Kansas City, Missouri - Police in Kansas City are investigating after an employee was found dead at a Cricket Cellular store in the 5100 block of Bristol on Saturday afternoon. According to police, officers found the employee in the back room of the store. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police have not released the cause of death, but they say that it appears that a robbery may have taken place. A witness stated that a small red truck was seen leaving the scene at a high rate of speed.


KCMO Parks Worker Killed in Apparent Mower Accident

August 15, Kansas City, Missouri - A Kansas City, Missouri, Parks and Recreation employee was killed after the mower he was operating apparently tipped over in south Kansas City on Saturday morning. Officials say that the worker, identified as Charles Grant, 56, of Kansas City, Missouri, was found by a park visitor at Jerry Smith Park at 137th and Prospect. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities say that they are still investigating the cause of death, but foul play is not believed to be involved.


Pizzeria employee dies after shooting in restaurant

August 5, Harrisburg, North Carolina – The Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Office searched for two men Saturday who they believed to be involved in the shooting death of a restaurant employee in Harrisburg. Deputies say Lalo Reyes was shot and later died after two robbers entered the closed Capriccio Pizza and Italian Restaurant through a back door, demanded money and a fight broke out.


Drunk driver kills construction worker

August 15, Booneville, Missouri - A Boonville woman has been charged in a fatal accident involving a highway construction worker. The Missouri Highway Patrol says Karen Redfern, 45, was driving on Highway 5 in Boonville Friday morning when her vehicle ran off the right side of the highway and struck 56-year-old Gregory Glover of Eureka. Glover was working on a road widening project at the time.


Woman Sentenced for Crash That Killed Cab Driver

August 13, Cedar Rapids, Iowa - A Cedar Rapids woman will spend 30 years in jail for causing a crash that killed a cab driver.Connie Gates, 36, said before being sentenced she would take back what she did if she could. During the trial a police videotape of a March 25 chase was shown to jurors in which Gates, driving a stolen car, fled from police, ran through red lights and rammed into a yellow Cab driven by Richard Dankert, 76, of Cedar Rapids


Worker dies in fall at Monessen plant

August, 14 Monessen, Ohio - An Ohio man died this morning after he fell about two stories while working at a site in Monessen. Michael Grinder, 40, of Warren, was pronounced dead at 10:44 a.m., Washington County Coroner S. Timothy Warco said in a press release. Mr. Grinder, who worked for Eastern Industrial Services Inc. of West Elizabeth, had been working on a project at Arcelor Mittal Holdings Inc. on Donner Avenue in Monessen when the accident occurred. He had been on a scaffold, 20 to 25 feet high, when he fell at 9:26 a.m., Mr. Warco said.


Wood chipper accident kills one, injures one in Ironwood

August 13, Bessemer, Michigan - A 39-year-old Bessemer, Mich., man was killed and another man injured in a wood chipper accident Wednesday evening in Ironwood. According to the Ironwood Public Safety Department, the accident occurred just before 6 p.m. as a work crew cleared brush along a trail between Lake and Luxmore streets. The injured person was a 25-year-old Ironwood man; he is being treated at Grand View Hospital. The names of the victims have not been released pending notification of family.


Area farmer dies in grain bin accident

August 13, Kennet, Missouri - A 61-year-old Stoddard County man, David Dowdy, died in a farming accident off County Road 65 north of Highway H, near Pyletown Wednesday morning. Dowdy was reportedly working around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at a grain bin near his farm where he had corn stored. Reports state that he suffocated after falling down into the grain while attempting to loosen a top layer of crusted corn within the bin. It is believed that the auger was in use at the time of the accident and was quickly shut off when Dowdy dropped into the bin.


Worker dies after furnace mishap at Steel Dynamics

August 13, Jeffersonville, Indiana - One of two employees injured during an apparent nitrogen leak at the Jeffersonville, Ind., operations of Steel Dynamics Inc. (SDI) has died as a result of his injuries. A spokeswoman for the Jefferson (Ky.) County Coroner's Office confirmed that Shay C. Fanase Jr., 21, of Peking, Ind., died several days after the Aug. 5 incident at the flat-rolled steel galvanizing plant.


Worker crushed to death at South Salt Lake stone business

August 13, South Salt Lake, Utah - A 20-year-old worker was crushed to death by a slab of marble at a stone business in South Salt Lake on Thursday. The worker was moving 6 by 8-foot marble slabs when a piece of marble broke off and crushed him, according South Salt Lake Police Captain Gary Keller. The incident happened at Stone Depot near 3072 South 300 West. The accident is under investigation.



Vermilion airport worker dies fulfilling life's ambition

August 12, Danville, Illinois – A fixture at the Vermilion Regional Airport died doing one of the things he loved best – working on airplanes, authorities said. Mike Burgett, 67, of Milford, was pronounced dead at 6:52 a.m. Tuesday at the airport on North Bowman Ave- nue, north of Danville, Vermilion County Coroner Peggy Johnson said. An autopsy is scheduled for today. Johnson and Vermilion County sheriff's officials said Mr. Burgett's death appears to have been caused by a medical problem, and that it is not suspicious.


Worker dies on Woodbridge construction job

August 12, Woodbridge, New Jersey — An Edison man was fatally injured in an industrial accident Tuesday afternoon while working on new bridge construction at the Conrail crossing on Blair Road. Luis C. Tavares, 26, who was working for Lucas Construction Group Inc. in Morganville, was killed when a 1,500-pound steel plate, being lowered by a back hoe, slipped off the chains


Worker Killed in Chesterfield Crane Accident

August 12, Richmond, Virginia - Chesterfield County Police are investigating an industrial accident that killed a Harbor Dredge & Dock employee. The accident occurred around 11 a.m. at 1300 Willis Road. Police said the victim, 46-year-old Ronald R. Well, was killed when a crane collapsed during the dismantling process.


Worker Killed In Lawnmower Accident

August 12, Annapolis, Maryland - Howard County Police say an employee of a landscaping company was killed today, when he lost control of a riding mower. Just after 2 p.m. worker from a nearby business found 27-year old Cerelino Valtazar pinned beneath the mower. Police say the victim had been mowing the lawn of a commercial building in the 9000-block of Junction Drive in Annapolis Junction.


Florida Waste Management worker dies after hit by pickup truck driver

August 12, Orlando, Florida - Florida Highway Patrol officers respond to fatal accident after a pickup truck driver slams into a Leesburg garbage truck worker on U.S. 41 in Dunnellon. Waste Management truck worker was rear-ended in pickup truck wreck while loading trash into garbage truck. Florida employment law attorneys information-Waste Management garbage truck worker after being struck by pickup truck driver in Dunnellon. Ocala, FL–Marion County Fire Rescue and Dunnellon Fire Rescue teams responded to a fatal accident on U.S. 41 in Dunnellon around 6:30 a.m., Monday morning. As reported by Ocala.com, 43 year-old Waste Management worker, Luis Ponce-Rizzo of Leesburg, was killed when a pickup truck driver struck him while he was loading trash into the back of a garbage truck.


UPDATE: Man Killed in Industrial Accident

August 12, Ector County, Texas - A man is dead after an industrial accident in Ector County. It happened Wednesday morning around 9:30 at SMC Incorporated on the Kermit Highway. The Ector County Sheriff's Office says a 48-year-old man was dead when medical crews arrived on the scene. The man has now been identified as Nelson Ty VanZandt of Odessa.


Toll Plaza Shooting Suspect May Be In Sacramento

August 12, Richmond, California - A domestic dispute appears to have led to the shooting deaths of a man and a woman at the toll plaza of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Tuesday evening, a Richmond police sergeant said. Meanwhile, investigators said the suspect might be in or headed to Sacramento. The shooting happened shortly before 6 p.m. when a man shot and killed 51-year-old Deborah Ross, a toll collector inside a booth, and a man in his 40s who was in a car in the parking lot of the toll plaza.


Arrest made in tow truck driver's death

August 11, Newport News, Virginia - A young boy is without his father, and a mother is without her son and best friend. Newport News Police say a drunk driver hit and killed 36-year-old Andy Starmer while he attempted to tow another man's van. The Newport News Commonwealth's Attorney charged the driver that hit him, William Charles Burns, with Aggravated Involuntary Manslaughter. He was arrested Monday night.


Man killed in salon robbery

August 11, Kansas City, Missouri - A man was fatally shot Monday night when he tried to fight back against three young robbers at a West Side hair salon. Three men between the ages of 18 and 25 entered Tina’s Hair Salon in the 900 block of West 24th Street about 6:45 p.m. with a gun and said they were robbing the business, witnesses said. A male employee fought with the men. They shot him once and ran away. The victim, in his early 30s, was pronounced dead at a hospital, according to police.


Worker killed when pickup backs into him

August 11, Fort Wayne, Indiana - A contracted cement layer was killed Tuesday after a co-worker – the man’s relative – backed a pickup into him, fatally pinning the man against a garage. Three family members were working on a driveway at 1813 W. State Blvd. around noon when, while taking up the old concrete, the victim instructed a relative to move the backed-in Ford pickup forward in the driveway, according to Officer Michael Joyner of the Fort Wayne Police Department.


Supermarket Fined $90,000 After Worker Killed

August 10, Toronto, Ontario - Tuong Phat Supermarket, of Toronto, was fined $90,000 on August 6, 2009, for a violation under the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) after a worker was killed. On December 27, 2007, a worker at the Finch Ave. W. store was using a lifting device to move a shopping cart from the main floor to the basement storage area. The device's forks tipped backwards, causing the machine to fall, fatally crushing the worker.


HP: Construction worker hit and killed in crash

August 10, Jacksonville, Florida - Authorities say a construction worker has been killed in Jacksonville in a traffic crash while painting stripes on an Interstate 95 ramp. Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Bill Leeper says a construction worker was struck and killed by a sport utility vehicle heading up the ramp on Tuesday morning. The names of the victim and the driver have not been released.


Texas contract worker killed by tire

August 10, Lewisville, Texas — A road crew worker is dead after a 200 pound tire came off a tanker truck and struck him. Lewisville police Capt. Todd Taylor identified the victim as 52-year-old state contract worker J. Pedro Garcia. The accident happened Monday when a truck carrying flammable liquid lost its first right rear wheel just after crossing the I-35 southbound bridge over Lewisville Lake.


Disney performer dies days after performance fall

August 10, Orlando, Florida - A performer at Walt Disney World and theater-community mainstay died Monday, four days after he was injured during a show at the Magic Kingdom. Mark Priest, 47, fell Thursday while playing in "Captain Jack's Pirate Tutorial," an interactive show in which actors lead guests through a series of pirate-skills tests, a Disney spokeswoman said.


Worker mowing in Nacogdoches found dead in basin

August 10, Dallas, Texas - Services are pending for a Nacogdoches (na-kuh-DOH'-chis) city employee found dead in a wastewater basin along where he had been mowing. Police Sgt. Greg Sowell said the basin had to be drained before searchers located the body of 28-year-old Ezekiel D. Wallace of Nacogdoches. The mower was also found in the water.


Man killed in industrial accident near Myerstown identified

August 10, New Tripoli, Pennsylvania - State police on Sunday identified the man who died in an industrial accident in an old alloy plant near Myerstown in Jackson Township, Lebanon County. Curtis B. Fink, 42, of York died after a piece of steel fell Friday morning in the former Quaker Alloys plant at 200 E. Richland Ave., troopers said. According to state police: Fink was about 30 feet above the floor in a lift truck welding when the accident occurred.


Metro Worker Struck, Killed by Piece of Machinery

August 10, Washington, DC - A Metro worker was struck by a piece of machinery and killed while doing repairs Sunday night on the Orange Line. The incident happened just before 10 p.m. between the Dunn Loring-Merrifield and Vienna/Fairfax-GMU Metro stops. The transit agency said the worker was struck by a piece of equipment called a ballast regulator, which spreads gravel onto the track bed. Michael Nash, 63, of Silver Spring, Md., was part of about 10 to 15 employees working to replace cross-ties under the track.


Man Working On Water Tower Dies In Fall

August 8, Epping, New Hampshire - A man working on Epping's water tower on Friday fell about 70 feet to his death. The 21-year-old man from North Carolina landed on his back at about 6:15 p.m. while working with a Bullins Painting Inc. crew that was sand-blasting the tower on Pleasant Street. Epping police and fire crews administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation and took the man to Exeter Hospital, where he died from his injuries.


Officials: Lee Alan Bryant employee shot coworker, killed self

August 8, Terre Haute, Indiana - Parke County officials have termed Friday’s shooting at the Lee Alan Bryan health care facility a drug-related “murder-suicide.”...Clark’s coworker, Kenneth A. Godfrey, 30, of Rockville, was also reported missing, but was found dead on the floor, near a work bench, in a nearby maintenance building. He reportedly had one gunshot wound in the chest. According to the report, investigators believe Clark went into the maintenance building, shot Godfrey, then went back to the boiler room, where he took his own life. The report also mentions “a dispute between the two,” although no further details are given. Parke County Sheriff Michael Eslinger could not be reached for comment Saturday.

3 comments:

0s0-Pa said...

I heard about the Disneyworld one, but not many of the others. I still can't believe how many people die from work-related stuff - kind of scary to read all those.
-Jack @ Truck Driving Jobs

Anonymous said...

well lets see with the lee allen bryant shooting it was never declared drug related so thats slander!!!!

Tammy said...

Yes they are scary to read. horrendous if it is your loved one.

As far as the Lee Alan Bryan case you will have to speak to the writer of this article by following the link here http://www.tribstar.com/news/local_story_220234329.html
Everything we get is directly from a news article. It does state that the police determined that it was drug related however if you feel this is wrong than bring it to their attention. It wouldnt be the first time findings were wrong but the real point here is that drugs or not one shot the other and then took his own life. It is workplace violence and there are ways to prevent this sort of thing. It is not about shifting blame but preventing it from happening again.

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